Author writes about Southwest history to enlighten

"My people were in on the founding of Santa Fe and Albuquerque," he said. "We have lived up and down the Rio Grande for 400 years."

Sálaz started researching and writing history books about New Mexico and the Southwest when he retired from teaching in Albuquerque in 1993.

He describes his most recent work, "Epic of the Southwest" (published by Cosmic House in Albuquerque), as a historical overview of what eventually became New Mexico, Texas, California, Arizona, Oklahoma, Colorado, Utah and Nevada.

Sálaz taught history, English and Spanish in public schools. He suggests that too many historians often neglect the contributions that Hispanics have made in the United States.

"I've tried to recover our valid history," he said. "There's too much propaganda out there under the guise of history."

Sálaz describes his book as a native history of the Southwest, designed for the ordinary reader and not necessarily written to impress scholars.

He is optimistic the 620-page book, filled with bits of information sometimes omitted from other historical works, will help enlighten some readers, especially young people.

"If you don't know your history, you're lost," he said. "You haven't the foggiest notion of who you are or what you have contributed to this country."

Sálaz was born in Belen, N.M., near Albuquerque, where he taught school for 33 years. Now, he sometimes spends time traveling and promoting his books.

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"My father named me Rubén in hopes that I would be a writer like the Nicaraguan poet (Rubén Darío)," he said. "Pobrecito, he's not here today, but he would feel good seeing these books. I've put in a lot of time working on them."